Hedi Viterbo @HediViterbo
17 June 2024
Israel’s export of weapons has now reached an all-time high. These weapons were tested on #Palestinians. So, what do we know about Israeli arms export?
According to Israel’s former Minister of Interior Security, Uzi Landau, “Israel is a laboratory for fighting terror”. The “laboratory” – #Gaza and the #WestBank – enables Israel to develop and test the weapons it later sells to other countries. http://washingtontimes.com/news/2002/jun/29/20020629-032632-7466r/…
The CEO of the Israeli Ministry of Defence recently said: “Many countries in the world are seeing the success of Israel’s arms systems in the war [in #Gaza], … and are buying Israeli weapons to defend their [own] citizens”. https://finance.walla.co.il/item/3671361
Over the last 5 years, Israel’s arms export has more than doubled. Now, it’s at an all-time high. http://ynet.co.il/news/article/b1rtmvabr…
The Israeli government is deeply involved in the export of weapons to other countries. Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Galant, says that his ministry is “leading the effort to increase the arms export”. https://finance.walla.co.il/item/3671361
The Ministry’s CEO adds: “Since the [#Gaza] war broke out, the Ministry of Defence has invested tens of billions in expanding the production and development [of weapons] … We believe this investment will lead to an expansion of the arms export”. https://finance.walla.co.il/item/3671361
Israel is the world’s biggest weapons exporter per capita: http://businessinsider.com/sweden-and-switzerland-are-among-top-arms-exporters-in-the-world-2014-5…
Also, Israel’s export of drones outweighs those of all other countries combined: http://theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/mar/16/numbers-behind-worldwide-trade-in-drones-uk-israel…
Israel’s economy is highly reliant on the export of weapons: A tenth of Israeli households are directly economically dependent on the arms industry. http://thenationalnews.com/israel-s-thriving-arms-trade-is-a-setback-to-peace-agreement-1.289841…
There’s much more info on Israel’s export and import of weapons (and of “national security” tactics and policies) here: http://cambridge.org/core/books/abs/abc-of-the-opt/export-of-knowledge/7080CA92ADD36CF07EDD6207B8BEB509… http://jadaliyya.com/Details/36400
Hedi Viterbo @HediViterbo Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Law at Queen Mary University of London. Writes on childhood, state violence, and sexuality.